Page 45 of Hang the Moon
Darcy gave a curt nod. “That’s—that’s great. I’m happy for you.”
Then how come she didn’t sound like it? “Darcy.”
She sniffed. “What?” She gave a wet laugh. “I’m trying really hard to work up some genuine enthusiasm. Give me a moment.”
Annie waited, not bothering to hold her breath.
“London?” Darcy shook her head. “Why do you want to move to London? You—you don’t even like tea. Christ, Annie, youhatetomatoes. They’re constantly eating stewed tomatoes and baked beans and you—you’re allergic to mushrooms. There’s nothing about an English breakfast you’d eat.”
“Toast,” Annie said. “I like toast.”
“Fuck toast,” Darcy muttered. “It’s dry bread. Completely overrated.”
She was pretty sure they ate more than traditional breakfast foods in England. In fact, sheknewthey did. But now wasn’t the time to point out the hilarity of Darcy’s argument.
“Darcy.”
“They have a monarchy. Who wants one of those? It’s not allfun royal weddings and hot duchesses. There is a grim history of colonialism and...” Darcy swiped angrily under her eyes. “Look, I understand I am being completely irrational, but you’re going to have to give me a minute, okay? I see you for the first time in over a year and you tell me you’re moving even further away?”
“I won’t have to travel as often. I’m getting tired of constantly being on the go.”
This job was offering her a chance to put down roots, a place to call home for longer than two weeks out of the month.
“And you can’t, I don’t know, pick a job that keeps you in one place and that place happens to be a little closer?” Darcy asked, voice small. “At least in the country?”
Annie fidgeted with the hem of her caftan. “It came out of nowhere. What was I supposed to say?”
The promotion was perfect on paper. Exactly what she’d been looking for as long as she kind of... squinted.
So what if working in HR wasn’t her dream? Sometimes a job was just a job. She wasn’t practical to the point of eschewing everything else, including her own happiness, but she couldn’t turn her whole life upside down and, what? Change careers? No.
Darcy sniffled. “I know I’m the one who moved here to Seattle, but...” She pressed her fingers to the space between her brows. “Call it wishful thinking on my part, but I’d always hoped we’d wind up back in the same city. At least the same coast. Philadelphia’s far enough as is, but London?”
“You never said,” Annie murmured.
“I didn’t think I needed to. I thought it went without saying. You’re my best friend.”
Annie said nothing, because honestly, she hadn’t thought Darcy would care.
Darcy frowned. “I guess I was wrong. It didn’t go without saying.”
“I didn’t mean to upset you,” Annie said. “I don’t want this to be a big black cloud hanging over us for the rest of my trip. Let’s just...”
“Pretend you aren’t moving halfway across the world?” Darcy’s voice went dry.
“Darcy.”
She held up her hands. “Fine. I’ll drop it.”
“Thank you.”
“For now.” Darcy’s brows rose. “I’ll drop it for now.”
Chapter Nine
Tuesday, June 1
Brendon was no stranger to the sort of run-of-the-mill misfortune that everyone experienced from time to time. A bad haircut. Getting splashed by a car while standing on the curb. Sleeping through his alarm. Even getting stood up.
